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dc.titleBetter Jobs Index 2026 Country Data: Latin America Achieves Historic Levels of Employment Quality, Although they Remain Insufficient for Most of the Population
dc.contributor.authorAzuara, Oliver
dc.contributor.authorLugo Ibarra, Mariana
dc.contributor.authorJaramillo Vasconez, Oscar Eduardo
dc.contributor.editorAzuara, Oliver
dc.contributor.orgunitSocial Protection and Labor Markets Division
dc.coverageArgentina
dc.coverageBolivia
dc.coverageBrazil
dc.coverageChile
dc.coverageColombia
dc.coverageCosta Rica
dc.coverageDominican Republic
dc.coverageEcuador
dc.coverageEl Salvador
dc.coverageGuatemala
dc.coverageHonduras
dc.coverageMexico
dc.coverageNicaragua
dc.coveragePanama
dc.coverageParaguay
dc.coveragePeru
dc.coverageUruguay
dc.coverageLatin America
dc.date.available2026-07-31T18:07:00
dc.date.issue2026-07-31T00:07:00
dc.description.abstractThe IDB's Better Jobs Index 2026 tracks labor market quantity (participation and employment rates) and quality (formality and living-wage adequacy) across 18 Latin American and Caribbean countries from 2010 to 2024. The regional index rose from 54.9 to 58.0 over the period, driven mainly by quality gains reaching an all-time high of 40.6, while quantity remained largely stagnant at 75.4; despite this, informality stood at 69% and roughly half the working-age population still faced working poverty in 2024. Uruguay, Chile, and Brazil led the overall ranking, with quantity converging across countries even as quality gaps widened, and persistent gender (21-point) and generational (10-point) disparities remained concentrated in labor market access rather than job conditions. The report concludes that the region's core challenge is transforming existing jobs rather than merely creating new ones, proposing five priorities: reducing informality, expanding social protection and pension coverage, scaling regional best practices, strengthening skills development, and leveraging AI to boost productivity and job quality.
dc.format.extent62
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.18235/0014436
dc.identifier.urlhttps://publications.iadb.org/publications/english/document/Better-Jobs-Index-2026-Country-Data-Latin-America-Achieves-Historic-Levels-of-Employment-Quality-Although-they-Remain-Insufficient-for-Most-of-the-Population.pdf
dc.identifier.urlhttps://publications.iadb.org/publications/spanish/document/Índice-de-mejores-trabajos-2026-datos-por-pais-El-empleo-de-calidad-alcanza-niveles-record-en-America-Latina-pero-sigue-sin-llegar-a-la-mayoria.pdf
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherInter-American Development Bank
dc.subjectLabor
dc.subjectWage
dc.subjectInformal Labor
dc.subjectLabor Market
dc.subjectFormal Labor
dc.subjectPoverty
dc.subjectLabor Force Participation
dc.subjectLabor Share
dc.subjectWage Gap
dc.subjectWage Disparity
dc.subject.jelcodeJ46 - Informal Labor Markets
dc.subject.jelcodeJ21 - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
dc.subject.jelcodeJ31 - Wage Level and Structure • Wage Differentials
dc.subject.jelcodeO54 - Latin America • Caribbean
dc.subject.keywordsEmployment;Employment Quality;Labor informality;labor market;gender gap;Youth Employment;Social protection;pensions;Productivity;Latin America and the Caribbean
dc.typeCatalogs and Brochures
idb.identifier.pubnumberIDB-CB-01206
idb.operationRG-T3894
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